Participation Nation

5:03 am

Thu August 23, 2012

Backpacks For Kids In Punta Gorda, Fla.

Several years ago, Jolene Mowry, president of the Yah Yah Girls of Punta Gorda, heard about a program in another state that provided food on weekends to needy schoolchildren.

So every Friday since 2010, the Yah Yahs deliver backpacks full of healthy, non-perishable, child-friendly food to schools throughout Charlotte County. The packs are given to Back Pack Kidz who have been identified — by the principals and school nurses — as likely to be hungry on weekends.

Empty packs are picked up early the next week, and the process starts all over again.

Jon Rubin is a writer and producer who used to be an engineer at WOUB for All Things Considered. He now listens to WGCU.